Bill Lippert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rep. Bill Lippert | |
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Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
from the Chittenden-1-1 district |
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| In office 1994 – present |
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| Born | January 18, 1950 Danville, Pennsylvania |
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| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Hinesburg, Vermont |
William J. Lippert, commonly known as Bill Lippert, is a noted gay rights activist from the U.S. state of Vermont who currently serves in the Vermont House of Representatives as a representative of the Chittenden-1-1 House district in Hinesburg.
Lippert grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from Earlham College in 1972 with a B.A. in History. He has lived in Vermont since 1972, and moved to Hinesburg in 1979. In 1994, Lippert was appointed to represent Hinesburg in the Vermont House of Representatives by Governor Howard Dean.
Lippert is a pioneer of the gay rights movement in Vermont. In the early 1970s, he formed the state’s first gay men’s support group. In 1983, Lippert worked with others to organize Vermont’s first gay pride rally in Burlington. Later, he was instrumental in lobbying for Vermont’s gay civil rights bill, which passed the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Madeleine M. Kunin in 1991. In 1990, Lippert helped to establish Outright Vermont, an organization dedicated to serving the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered youth.
In 1992, along with community activist David Curtis, Lippert founded the Samara Foundation of Vermont, a community foundation, whose mission is, “to improve the quality of life of Vermont's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens. With our donors and other partners, we collaborate to build and protect the dynamic capital required to advance this mission now and in the future.” Lippert served as the Executive Director of the Samara Foundation until 2004.
In the year 2000, as the Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and as the chamber’s only openly gay member, Lippert was central to the work of drafting and passing into law the landmark Vermont civil union law which granted legal recognition to same gender couples. Following passage of the civil union law, the Vermont Democratic Party faced a backlash and lost their majorities in both chambers of the Vermont Legislature. Subsequently, Lippert lost his position as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, though he easily won re-election to his seat in the house. In 2005 the Democrats regained their majority and Lippert was appointed to chair the Judiciary Committee by House Speaker Gaye Symington. After winning reelection in 2006, Lippert was reappointed as chair of the Judiciary Committee for 2007-08 legislative term. Lippert also serves as chair of the House/Senate Joint Judicial Retention Committee, which is charged with reviewing judicial conduct.
On Saturday May 12, 2007, Lippert received national attention when a FOX News crew, on behalf of the program The O'Reilly Factor, interrupted his breakfast in the Vermont Statehouse cafeteria to ask him why he didn't support Jessica's Law, for which host Bill O'Reilly is an advocate. Lippert was a central figure in passing similar child protection legislation earlier that same week.[1] During the exchange, the representative said, "Vermont has the toughest laws regarding child rape in the country." The FOX News crew was escorted out of the statehouse by security after becoming verbally aggressive with the lawmaker.[2] The exchange was broadcast on Fox News on May 14, 2007. Later that day, in response to the incident, fellow lawmakers honored Lippert in the well of the House with a standing ovation.[3]
Lippert works part-time as the Senior Foundation Officer for the Samara Foundation of Vermont.
Lippert now serves as one of five openly gay members of the Vermont Legislature, alongside Sen. Ed Flanagan (D-Chittenden County) and representatives Robert Dostis (D-Waterbury), Steve Howard (D-Rutland), and Jason Lorber (D-Burlington).[4]
